


syncopation station

by pipecleanerFlowers



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 07:18:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3241088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipecleanerFlowers/pseuds/pipecleanerFlowers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>syncopation</i>. a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm; a placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn’t normally occur.</p><p>Yuuto's plans to go back to Shun's apartment and spend the day playing XYZ Rebellion are interrupted by a girl. Who's unfairly pretty. And thinks he's her best (boy?)friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	syncopation station

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey! This is the first time we've done a collab together and it's also 3AM, so please forgive any ??? Other than that, enjoy (particularly Yuuto being a gigantic nerdbaby tbh)!
> 
> Please leave comments! And, hey, try to find all the ZEXAL references? :o)

He's only halfway through his favorite song when the preppy tween on the seat in front of him starts gossiping loudly with her friend, which, _hello_ , can you Not, so Yuuto double taps the button and has to start the song all over again. From his lock screen, Shun, Ruri, and himself cheerfully remind him that he's in the red, seven percent battery—wait, now it's six—and his data plan is running out, too, so maybe he should have used his parents' Wi-Fi to download that new album instead of trying to stream it off YouTube, but, you know, it’s fine, he’s almost home, just one rail transfer to go. Six... uh, five percent can last until then.

He lowers his brightness and turns off the data and the Wi-Fi but he's not giving up the music, so when the train stops next he's at, um, two percent—which, okay, not _bad_. Not enough for the bus ride back to Shun’s place, but still. Not bad. Home sweet charger.

Yuuto steps off the monorail, glad that he doesn’t have to hear another story about that stupid twelve-year-old’s _like, completely insane_ parents. He clicks the button mostly out of habit and sees the time; it's nearly noon, and also he's at 1%, and—no, yeah, he's gone.

Nothing to do but pocket it now. Sigh.

"HEY YUUYA~!"

Yuuto looks up. There's a girl with electric pink hair charging straight toward him, someone he's fairly certain he's never seen before in his life, and she looks _furious_.

"God, you took _forever_. Seriously, did you sleep in again?!" She smacks him with a fan that comes out of literally nowhere and he’s rubbing the back of his head and staring at her, somewhere between confused and in pain.

"Uhh, do I know you?"

Actually, now that he’s looking at her closely… she _does_ look kind of familiar. Under the pink hair and the big blue hair clips, there's something about her eyes and the shape of her lips that reminds him of…

"Wait, Ruri?"

"It’s _Aria_ today, Yuuya, jeez! How many times do I have to remind you?"

"Right, uh— _Aria_ , when did you get back in Maiami?"

"Back? I’ve been here all semester," she—Aria—says, rolling her eyes, but then she cocks her head to the side and squints at him. "You feeling alright? Are you doing another part?"

"Well you kind of hit me on the—"

He's pretty sure Aria isn't even listening when she pushes on, "Gosh, and you dyed your hair again? The tomato look suited you more, now you just look like a scene kid."

Yuuto is. Kind of confused. Baffled, even. He has about seventeen questions and then one thousand more and he's ready to ask all of them, but the only thing he manages to stumble out is, "Scene kid?"

He is _not_ one of those pretentious losers.

(And she, he finds himself noticing, is really cute).

She puts up a hand to shush him and looks at her watch, some jewel-encrusted thing he’s pretty sure Ruri would never wear. "Ugh, we don't have time for this! We _have_ to get you into something decent before my show tonight, come on! And I thought your cargo pants were bad."

She gives his skinny jeans an appraising look before making a face and grabbing his wrist, pulling him toward the bus that'll takes them exactly the opposite direction of Shun and his apartment, which, uh? No, that’s—

"Ruri—"

" _Aria_."

"Aria," he corrects, and wonders if this is what France does to every other girl that goes to study Marketing in Paris for a semester before mysteriously showing up in Maiami again three weeks later. "What—"

"No questions!" she insists, and drags him away, perfectly content to hold a stranger's hand and drag him down Tiragon Terminal like she's known him all his life.

* * *

Crystal Crossing is bustling and Yuuto has to admit he’s never actually been to this district before because there’s no Hot Topic, but Aria is insistent that they shop here and not at the mall, because the mall is full of her demographic or something—whatever the hell that means—and if they go there, it’ll be trouble. So Crystal it is.

It looks like the kind of place where girls go to buy prom dresses, travelling in packs and with their parents' credit cards, but Aria walks straight past all of the storefronts with frilly satin gowns and into a menswear store, which, good, this seems normal enough. He was afraid she'd take him to Heartlandraco and stuff him into a periwinkle polo or something to match her dress. Which. Is cute—Yuuto's into zettai ryouiki, y'know, because after catholic school and Ruri it really just became a Thing—but. No thanks.

Speaking of. "Ruri—"

"Jeez, Yuuya, when have I _ever_ been called _Ruri_?"

Why does she keep calling him Yuuya, anyway? Is he on Punk'd? Is this Shun's megane not-boyfriend trying to give him an intervention? Does Shun’s megane not-boyfriend even _know_ any girls?

He doubts it.

Not-Ruri snaps her fingers in his face and snaps him back at attention. "Helloooo? Are you in there?"

"No, I’m having an out-of-body experience," he deadpans, and Aria just stares incredulously. There's dress shirts folded neatly in her hands; she stuffs them into his arms, turns him around, and pushes him into the nearest dressing room.

"Change," she orders.

He looks at the tags first to make sure they're his size, because how did she even _guess_? Turns out they actually are, huh, but, uh, "How the hell am I gonna afford this?"

"Just _do it_ ," she says. "Those pants are _hideous_ and I'm burning them and billing Nico if I see them on you again."

Yuuto doesn't see anything wrong with his skinny jeans, okay. They're ripped at the knees because he _likes_ them that way, and excepting the fact that they’ve been through so many washes that the dye's gone from purple to... uh, whatever faded shade they are now, they’re totally fine. Attractive, even. Especially with his hoodie, spelling out the name of his favorite MMO, XYZ REBELLION, in big, bold letters that match the colour of his pants—or at least they used to—and his hair, too. Coordination city, up in here.

He peeks his head out and says as much.

She facepalms and pushes him back in.

"Just. Change. For me?" she says, and at that last part she sounds so cute that he’s now 100% certain she isn't Ruri—she'd never be able to keep this up for so long and she isn't an actress, anyway. So this Aria chick must _really_ think Yuuto is Yuuya or whoever, and… fine, he'll do what she wants and try to tell her she's got the wrong person when she stops stressing about whatever and talking over him. 

He slips on one of the various coloured shirts and pulls back the curtain.

"Happy now?"

Aria holds up her thumb to just see his upper half then smiles brightly, and Yuuto wonders how the hell she has the ability to get even cuter. It’s really distressing and unfair.

"Perfect! Green is a good colour on you," she says with an approving nod (and periwinkle is a good colour on her, but they’re still strangers and this is still awkward). "Now for pants, what size are you…" She dashes over to a ring of dress pants and sifts through them, checking the tags and taking them out, holding them up to him to see what'll match.

"Black is usually a good default. Grey would wash you right out…" She holds up two different pairs. "You look so thin, did Nico put you on a diet?"

Who the hell is Nico? Yuuto tries not to stare at her in utter befuddlement, but if Ruri’s not an actor, that goes double for him.

"Uh... No?" Perfect, she’ll never notice.

Aria nods, more to herself than to him because she’s zoned him out again, found pants that might be satisfactory. She shoves them in his direction and he obeys her tacit command because it’s probably better than trying to argue pro-used-to-be-purple skinny jeans again. Once he’s changed, she gives him another Maiami once-over, nodding at his shirt and his pants, but there's still something missing...

"Long sleeves look so stuffy," she decides, grabbing his wrist and starting to fold up the cuff. "Three quarters is so much more fresh, you’re not an old geezer… Oh?"

Yuuto’s too busy staring at her pretty eyes to realize what she’s noticed.

"Oh?" he repeats at her.

"When'd you get a tattoo, Yuuya?"

"Oh, uh." In high school, like, two hours after that fight with his parents that landed him at Shun and Ruri's place, to be honest. He and Ruri had snuck out to the parlor down the street so she could get a piercing and he was like, _heck you dad I'm getting a tat_ , and, so, you know. KNIGHT right across his wrist in black ink and gothic font so it’d be the first thing they’d notice when he finally went back a week later.

He swears he was drunk now. (He wasn't).

"It was… Nico's idea?" he tries, and Aria looks at him funny.

"Knight? Really?"

"... Really?"

She bursts out in raucous laughter. "Oh my god, Knight-kun, your agent's really something."

He doesn't have time pencil _agent_ next to _Nico_ in his head because his face heats up and, "Knight-kun?"

"Yup! Today I'm Aria and you'll be my Knight-kun."

The smile that she gives him could light up his world. God, he doesn't even know her real name.

"Ready to go?"

He nods and her manicure snaps off the tags. "He’s wearing them out," she says, handing them to the clerk and tapping her card. She dumps his old clothes in a bag, ties it up, and looks ready to throw it in the trash on her way out.

"Please don’t do what I think you’re going to do with that."

She's the picture of innocence. "What? Little ol' me?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, it’s either this or I sic the You Show fashion police on you," she says, eyes glinting, and Yuuto can only assume that would be a Bad Thing.

"Can I at least keep my hoodie?"

She has to think about it. It takes a while, and he wonders if her hair is actually bright pink or if that’s another weird agent thing. Maybe she’s a hardcore bubblegum princess?

"Alright, Knight-kun, you can keep the hoodie." She reaches into the bag and tosses it at him. " _But_ you're treating me to lunch."

"Deal," he says, before remembering he only has like two dollars in his bank account and, like, $1.50 in his pocket.

...Okay, fine, he’ll take out the credit card. Just for her and her stupid nice face and zettai ryouiki.

She just paid around $50 for his new threads, anyway. So. It’s fair.

* * *

They're halfway down Leviath Street when Yuuto remembers his phone and scavenges for it in his hoodie, eyes wide. He can't believe he forgot it—he's been glued to that thing since he got it, checks it compulsively right after he wakes up, before he goes to sleep, and every moment in between. Even if it's dead the weight in his hands is just kind of comforting, and now as he holds it, it's the only thing _familiar_ , but at the same time it feels kind of… weird.

Like the only thing actually out of place as he walks down this street he's never been on, in clothes that aren't purple, beside a stranger with bright pink hair and an even brighter smile... is his phone. He pockets it and doesn't feel like he's missing a part of his soul suddenly. _Weird_.

"Hey, do you have a charger?" he has to ask anyway, so it doesn't feel like he's abandoning an old friend completely.

"Oh, yeah, I still have your extra from last time," she says, and fishes through her purse for it. The sync cable produced is one of those dollar store ones that come in five different colours at once and kills battery life in the long run. This Yuuya character sure is a person.

"Uh, thanks." He pockets it with no actual intention of plugging it in and hopes Yuuya has another spare because he’s probably never getting it back now. 

"So, does Italian sound good? Sushi? Or is your diet so terrible we have to go buy carrots?"

"Er… whatever you want. Food sounds good."

Aria stares at him. "Wow, you've grown up a little since I came here, huh, Knight-kun?"

"Um, about that—"

"Okay, so then… Oh, Ayu said there’s a cute little café on Drake Avenue, wanna try it out?"

"Sure, but first I—"

"Let's go, Knight-kun!" And she's gotten ahold of his arm again.

He sighs. "You got it, Aria."

The café isn't too far; actually, it's the first street he recognizes, and he's been here before, too. She orders herself some complicated latte with soy milk and this kind of sugar and that kind of extra shot and a quinoa wrap and tells them her name is Aria, and before he can give his order she's already said "Mac and cheese and a strawberry milkshake for ‘Knight-kun.’"

She moves aside to let him swipe his card, though, which is very considerate of her. He hopes her drink tastes good; his sure doesn’t. Yuuya literally has bad taste (but he can't be so bad if Aria keeps him in her company, right? Sure).

"I'm so nervous about tonight," she says once they've eaten, twirling his straw between her fingers (he decided halfway through that enough was enough and shoved the remaining part of his strawberry milkshake over to her).

Yuuto is probably supposed to know what she’s referencing, but he doesn’t and that’s a, um, problem. Especially when she looks so distressed.

"I’m sure you’ll be fine," he says, defaulting to generic feel-good advice that works in ninety percent of all distressing situations, and it's just about the emptiest thing he's said in his entire life, but the way the corners of her mouth curl up make it feel like the most meaningful. He reaches out to touch her hand and now she's all-out smiling.

"Okay, I know you told me not to but I've been watching vids of Masumi again. I couldn't help it…" 

"Masumi?"

"Yeah, and, please don’t get mad, but I don’t know if I can boost You Show’s sales when LDS has a gem like her," Aria says, and though she sounds worried, she’s still smiling, if a little wistful. "Here, check this out." She pulls out her phone. "It’s footage from her latest concert."

Wait. _Concert_?

Is Aria a _pop star_?

She gestures for him to look at her screen and slides into the booth beside him. The video plays quietly and Yuuto can just make out this Masumi chick’s voice. The stage is bright with white lights and she's on a stool with a backdrop of crystals and… yeah, okay, maybe she’s good, maybe she has star power, but Aria is definitely prettier and could outshine any of those dumb crystals, okay. Okay.

"You shouldn’t worry," Yuuto says, carefully ignoring the way Aria’s thigh is pressed against his as she leans into all of his personal space (wow, is Yuuya her boyfriend, because he sure hopes he'll _never find out about this_ ). "You’ll be great."

"Really?"

He swallows. "Definitely."

"But… in case I’m not," she starts, "remember that thing we used to do during shows when we were kids?"

"Um, remind me again?" he says, trying to hide his wince. Then for good measure: "There were a lot of things."

"Yeah, I guess so!" she agrees, smiling, and he inwardly sighs in relief. "Well, it usually went like this."

She brings her arms up above her head and curves them in to form… a heart. And, wow, that’s. 

Yuuya is _definitely_ dating her. Crap.

"A heart? Oh, yeah," he says, and she nods happily.

"Don't forget, okay, Knight-kun?"

And, well. He can't really tell her _now_. 

* * *

The Maiami Stadium is huge, and Yuuto thought Crystal Crossing was bustling? This is ten times worse. They're still outside when he stares at Aria—who’s covered herself in his hoodie to hide her face from the massive crowd—and then turns to face the gate at which she’s dropping him off.

"VIP seats!" she says, handing him a crisply folded ticket. "You’ll be really close to the stage, so don't forget to, you know." She makes a heart at him with her hands, and he just about dies, before nodding because he doesn't trust himself to speak. "I should be getting tour passes after the show, so remind me to give them to you, okay?"

"Okay," he manages to get out, because she’s _even cuter_ in his hoodie if that’s even possible and honestly, maybe he'll let her keep it (WAIT, Yuuya. BAD YUUTO, _bad_ ).

"Alright, I have to get backstage, but the show starts at eight so make sure you’re in your seat and not at the snack stand, got it?"

He can't even afford stadium popcorn. He probably can't even afford the bus fare home. "Okay," he says again because his throat is suddenly really dry and maybe he’ll splurge on a three dollar coke? He’ll pay Shun back for his stupid credit card bill with trading cards if he has to. "Uh, good luck!"

"Thanks, Knight-kun!" She smiles brightly and waves. Runs off to wherever the hell backstage is in this gigantic stadium.

And Yuuto’s alone.

He glances at his ticket and makes his way to his seat, refusing to ask anyone for help and getting there probably years late, but, yeah, he doesn't have a watch and his phone is still dead. Luckily the show hasn’t started yet and he’s got his coke, which he’s half finished by the time he sits down.

At probably-eight, the lights dim. Stage lights flash on and poppy dance music reminiscent of Yuuto’s bad DDR experiences starts up, looping once, looping twice, and Yuuto is getting increasingly aware of how he's the only one here without someone to potentially freak out with, and he also wonders if somewhere nearby Yuuya is trying to get into his probably-girlfriend's show.

Then smoke fills the stage and a loud _BOOM_ sounds in a flare of pyrotechnics and Aria is rising up from the floor onto a platinum platform, pink laser lights going absolutely crazy. There's more smoke, there's the bass starting to pick up, there's screaming from the audience, and then:

"Ready to get started, Maiami City?" she asks, peace sign covering one eye, and she’s the image of an idol in a silver and pink dress and platform heels.

The crowd goes wild and she bursts into her first song.

And, okay. _Wow_. Yuuto’s eyes are glued to her, dancing a routine she no doubt practiced till it was fluid, singing every word without a single crack or—from what little he knows about her music, since he only found out about it, like, a few hours ago—a missed lyric.

She was _nervous_?

Her momentum keeps up right through her introduction after the third perfectly executed song, but then she starts her first ballad of the set—and that's when her eyes start to widen a little, her persona starts to waver, and she starts looking for something: for him. His heart's beating fast because it's now or never, right? This is what she's relying on him for, isn't it?

He stands up and shoves his arms above his head and, just like she showed him, forms a heart. He feels ridiculous.

There’s a laugh on her lips as she continues to sing her slow love song, stronger this time, before she makes a heart, too, and winks straight at him. The crowd absolutely loses it once again, but Yuuto can barely hear the fanfare because his heart, like, stops.

Then he dies. Probably.

The end.

(Shun can pay off the credit card himself).

* * *

"Oh, my god! It's so late, you'll miss your train!" Aria exclaims before Yuuto can say anything at all, but, really, he's getting used to it.

They meet outside, about a block away from the stadium and two hours after the scheduled ending because the crowd was so into her that she ended up coming back onstage for three encores. It's chilly out and she's got his hoodie on again, and she looks tired but her eyes are still alight with post-concert adrenaline.

"C'mon, if we run we can still make it!" She grabs his hand and off they go, supplementing more exercise and excitement for him today than in the entirety of the last year (which is saying something because his MMO raids can get pretty intense).

Running knocks the hood off her hair and uncovers her face, still plastered with stage makeup that accentuates literally everything about her cute face and Yuuto tries to focus on how to get back to Tiragon Terminal instead of her, because the last thing they want is to get lost in Maiami past midnight and miss his only affordable way back home (taxis _suck_ , and if they end up on one together at this hour he'll lose his mind).

"So, how was I?" she asks when they're turning a corner, and it takes him a moment to realize he's actually expected to respond.

_Amazing_ comes to mind. So does _bloody fantastic_. _Holy shit_ is another one, and then there's _you killed it_ and _you killed me_ and also _please keep my hoodie for the rest of your life_.

Yuuto doesn’t know which one to pick, he’s so starstruck. This is something out of Shun’s stupid guilty-pleasure romcoms (which are actually Yuuto's stupid guilty-pleasure romcoms, but Shun watches them, too, so).

"You…" he says finally, when they dash down Gimmick Way (which he _thinks_ is a shortcut), "are so much better than Masumi. Like, a trillion thousand times better than Masumi."

"You really think so?"

"Definitely. Everyone loved you, you heard them!" He hesitates before tacking on: "If Masumi was there, I bet she'd love you, too."

"Yuuya…"

He’s so, so glad that it's dark and he's out of breath, because he'd totally respond with her name if he _knew_ it, and he's pretty sure he's blushing again.

They reach Tiragon Terminal in record time; her rail's just pulling in and he follows her because according to the screens that line the terminal, his bus isn’t for another ten minutes.

"Oh! Almost forgot!" She turns to him just as she’s about to step on, pulls open her bag and dives in, taking this and sticking it between her teeth, taking that and hiding it under her arms. The loudspeakers on the rail are announcing that it's about to head out when she finally pulls out a tour pass and holds it out victoriously. "Promise you'll be there next time, too?"

"O-Of course," he says, still breathless from the run, but mostly because she’s beautiful even under creaky fluorescent lighting and drenched in sweat that’s smudged her makeup and neither of them know each other's names. He takes the pass from her, stuffing it in the pockets of the pants he bought her, no doubt cemented as yet another souvenir from their day together.

"And… ah, thank you!" she says, pecking him on the cheek. She jumps onto the rail before he can react or even fully register the momentary pressure on his cheek. The doors shut and she waves at him as it pulls out of the terminal.

He blinks and it's gone.

He can't believe today just happened.

It's when he's trying to come up with an explanation to why he was out all day that doesn't sound completely fictional that he spots the piece of plastic on the ground. He tilts his head at it, sees a familiar face, and picks it up.

It's a student ID for You Show Idol School’s Maiami campus. Another girl that looks like Ruri, with bold blue eyes and mousy brown hair.

"...Yuzu Hiiragi?"


End file.
